Thomas Young's antics in the world of physics occurred during a time where most physicists were convinced with Newton's hypothesis that light behaved as particle. But being the intellectual $*#@ disturber he was, Young wanted to prove them all wrong. He wanted to show the world that light behaved as a wave.
The Experiments
Young started by putting his thought experiments to the test, he used a box full of water, halved by a divider with two slits in it. When a uniform wave was projected across the one side, a definite interference pattern appeared on the other. With this in mind, he decided to take it to the next level: add light.
When performed with a single slit, a single band of light is formed at the far end of the box, and when two slits were used, one might think that two of these bands would be formed, right? Wrong. A series of light and dark segments were shown on the wall, marks of an interference pattern! Young had done it, he had proved that light can behave as a wave. However, that didn't mean that light didn't still behave like a particle, as the screen absorbed as though they were discrete particles, but that is a story for another time.
Other Advances
Young's experiment not only proved the ability of light to behave as both a wave and a particle, but made way for others to expand on their research. De Broglie, for example, decided to shoot electrons through these slits. At first, his results were unremarkable, with no pattern whatsoever, but after a long while, a definite pattern formed, an interference pattern. Going further, when trying to examine the particles on both ends of the apparatus, it was discovered that they cannot know both where the particle is and its momentum.
Conclusion
While his experiment revolutionized the world of physics as we know it, Thomas Young also paved the way for others to expand on research in other ways.
The Problem
Thomas Young's antics in the world of physics occurred during a time where most physicists were convinced with Newton's hypothesis that light behaved as particle. But being the intellectual $*#@ disturber he was, Young wanted to prove them all wrong. He wanted to show the world that light behaved as a wave.The Experiments
Young started by putting his thought experiments to the test, he used a box full of water, halved by a divider with two slits in it. When a uniform wave was projected across the one side, a definite interference pattern appeared on the other. With this in mind, he decided to take it to the next level: add light.When performed with a single slit, a single band of light is formed at the far end of the box, and when two slits were used, one might think that two of these bands would be formed, right? Wrong. A series of light and dark segments were shown on the wall, marks of an interference pattern! Young had done it, he had proved that light can behave as a wave. However, that didn't mean that light didn't still behave like a particle, as the screen absorbed as though they were discrete particles, but that is a story for another time.
Other Advances
Young's experiment not only proved the ability of light to behave as both a wave and a particle, but made way for others to expand on their research. De Broglie, for example, decided to shoot electrons through these slits. At first, his results were unremarkable, with no pattern whatsoever, but after a long while, a definite pattern formed, an interference pattern. Going further, when trying to examine the particles on both ends of the apparatus, it was discovered that they cannot know both where the particle is and its momentum.Conclusion
While his experiment revolutionized the world of physics as we know it, Thomas Young also paved the way for others to expand on research in other ways.